Can The Bruins Close it Out at Home?

This afternoon the Boston Bruins have their first chance to eliminate the Detroit Red Wings from the Stanley Cup Playoffs and move onto round. After winning Thursday in overtime, the B’s now have a commanding 3-1 lead over the Red Wings in the series and all it take is one more win to move on.

(Credit: Lisa Gansky)

For the Bruins the chance to win a series in Game five is an oh too familiar place. Last year the B’s were up 3 games to 1 against the Maples Leafs but they lost Games 5 and 6, and THEN had to come back from a 4-1 third-period deficit to tie the game before winning in overtime. Needless to say, the Bruins are looking to end this series sooner than later.

The winner of this series is set to face the Montreal Canadiens, a team that swept their first round opponent. The longer this series takes, is the longer the Habs can rest and we know that’s not a good thing.

At the start of Thursday’s game it was clear the Red Wings showed up to play. Jonas Gustavsson would get the nod in net replacing a sick Jimmy Howard. And he would go on to stop 37 of 40 shots, giving Detroit a real chance to win. The difference is after the first period, it seemed the air was pumped out of the Red Wings tires (see what I did there). Bruins outshot Detroit in overtime alone 12-3 so it shouldn’t be surprising that they got the win.

The B’s top line is finally starting to make it’s presence known. Milan Lucic has two goals in the series with Jarome Iginla notching the game winner on Thursday. The pair along with David Krecji have finally started to gain some confidence, and that should prove to bothersome for a young Detroit team.

For the Bruins to win today they need to prove that they are the better team. They have the lineup depth, size, strength and overriding playoff experience to take home the best-of-seven series but they have to prove it.

Puck drops at 3 today and you can check it out on NBC!
BELIEVE IN BOSTON!